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Entries in Speaker Norelli
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CONCORD – The House Republican Alliance (HRA) today issued at statement regarding the House leadership efforts to ram through the House a second attempt at the passage of Medicaid (welfare) expansion. The amendment to HB 544, is almost identical to the Medicaid expansion bill that passed in the House during the special session in November of 2013, but was rejected by the Senate.

“Since the special session in November, new information about the usage of Emergency Room use for Medicaid patients has been released, clearly showing that expanding Medicaid increases, not decreases the use of emergency room for visits,” stated Pam Tucker-Greenland. “This bill is being rushed through again with little regard to how we will pay for the nearly $18 million in new state costs when the broke federal government stops paying for it.”

“There is a critical weakness with Expanded Medicaid that no one addresses. Because Obamacare refuses to allow insurance for lower income adults, early retirees may be forced onto Medicaid. What the population does not know and the press has not discussed is that the expanded Medicaid program for those 55 and older is not insurance, but rather a loan program. If a person is 55 or older and receives a Medicaid payment, after death of that person, his / her estate must repay 100 percent of those payments -- thus this is a loan program and not health insurance for this group. This rushed procedure to pass Medicaid expansion again by attaching a major policy and cost through via an amendment is unprecedented in the House.” States Lynne Ober- Hudson. “As a member of the committee on Medicaid expansion last fall, we received the fiscal note just 30 minutes prior to exec’ing the bill, giving us little time to digest the devastating impact to our state and costs.”

Concord - Below are remarks as prepared for delivery by Senator Sylvia Larsen and House Speaker Terie Norelli responding to the Republican budget proposal as a press conference this morning.

REMARKS BY SENATOR LARSEN:

My name is Sylvia Larsen, and I am the State Senate’s Democratic Leader.

Thank you all or joining us here today to discuss the Republican’s proposed budget.

Budgets are about priorities. What services will we invest in and which ones will be cut. Both the Governor and House proposed budgets invested in the priorities they told the people of New Hampshire they would invest in.

And they did it using the revenue sources they said they would use.

What we found out last week was that the Republicans’ budget does not share those priorities.

While paying lip service to fully funding CHINS – Children In Need ofServices and programs for the developmentally disabled, Republicans have left our Health and Human Services Department with a 40 Million dollar hole.

It is as if they promised to do a job, but stopped 40 million dollars short of completion.

The result is undeniable. Lacking the resources, HHS will be forced to make painful cuts to critical programs important to families across the state.

The irresponsible decisions didn’t end there.

Republicans also included a back of the budget cut that will force a massive number of layoffs - the State Employees Association estimates 700 jobs will be lost. Those are 700 of your friends and neighbors, who will be out of a job if this budget were to take effect. They didn’t specify who should be laid off, or even what department. Instead they are demanding the Governor make that difficult decision.

They are passing the buck, ducking, dodging, darting and diving away from the hard choices.

This reckless move will cost hundreds of New Hampshire workers, taxpayers, mothers, and fathers their jobs. It is a reversal of the promise to improve the economy and make jobs a priority.

These hardworking men and women will go home to the families their salary used to support, not knowing where their next paycheck will come from, how they will feed or clothe their family or help their child afford an education.

The loss of their job won’t be because of poor performance. And it won’t be because of changes in the needs of the state. It will be solely the result of Republican legislators.

This is particularly distressing to me because many of them will be myconstituents, residents of Concord, along with Henniker, Hopkinton and Warner.

And before Republicans cry out that there was no alternative, there was. As I mentioned before budget are about priorities. We could have found the resources to avoid these painful mass firings. The Governor’s proposed increase in the cigarette tax would have covered it.

Two years ago, Terie and I stood together in opposition to a Republican super majority budget that we couldn’t stop from devastating our state. It made cigarettes cheaper and college more expensive. While our students’ tuition went through the roof, the big out of state tobacco companies raised cigarette prices pocketing the tax cut for themselves. New Hampshire lost out twice.

We cannot afford to make those same mistakes again.

I sincerely hope that my Senate colleagues on the other side of the aisle will reverse course before Thursday, or short of that be willing to come to the table at a committee of conference and compromise.

Now let me turn this over to my good friend Terie Norelli.

REMARKS BY SPEAKER NORELLI:

Thank you Sylvia. My name is Terie Norelli and I am the Speaker of the New Hampshire House.

The Senate Republicans finally released their budget several days ago. Unfortunately, due to the lack of much public discussion, it took several days to fully comprehend what impacts it would have for our state, for our families, and for our small businesses.

The House Finance Committee toured the state listening to the people of New Hampshire. Hearing their priorities. And putting together a responsible budget that invested in our state and our citizens as best we could.

Sadly, Republicans in the Senate did not do that.

Instead, it appears that what is best for the people, the families and the small businesses of New Hampshire is not as important, to the Senate as ideology.

The Republican budget does not move forward with the expansion of Medicaid, despite an independent study that concluded New Hampshire would benefit greatly from the infusion of $2.5 billion into our economy, create 700 jobs, and save the state $92 million.

The federal government will provide 100 percent of the funding for the first three years and no less than 90 percent thereafter. Despite cries to the contrary, the federal government has historically fulfilled its commitments to the Medicaid program, even increasing funding during tough economic times.

Expansion is good fiscal policy. And it is good health policy.

Other states that have expanded Medicaid have found that those who were able to enroll had significantly better mental health, with a 30% reduction in depression. And they found that Medicaid virtually wiped out crippling medical expenses among the working poor. The percentage of people who faced catastrophic out-of-pocket medical expenditures was cut by 80%.

These are real savings both in dollars and in lives that New Hampshire could realize with expansion. Healthier, more financially secure families and economic growth for the state – that’s why very conservative Republican governors like Chris Christie, John Kasich, Rick Scott and others are moving forward with expansion.

Unfortunately, Medicaid expansion isn’t the only place New Hampshire families and small businesses took a back seat to ideology.

While Senator Larsen has already mentioned the potential mass layoffs, another damaging cut to the economy is the elimination of funding for the successful Green Launching Pad. This is a public private partnership that enables local start-ups to bring green solutions to market, strengthening the economy and boosting job creation. Also eliminated was the Governor’s office of Innovation.

These are the kinds of commonsense priorities that support the Granite State economy that we should be looking to expand, not eliminate.

Like my good friend in the Senate, I too hope that Republicans come to the committee of conference ready to compromise, because their budget needs to be improved in order to build a more innovative economic future and protect the health and well-being of Granite Staters.

Concord – New Hampshire Republican State Committee Chairman Jennifer Horn sent the following letter to Speaker Terie Norelli today asking her to stop paying taxpayer funded dues to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). The NCSL is lobbying for the passage of the Internet sales tax bill that will hurt New Hampshire small businesses. Speaker Norelli also serves as president of the NCSL:

April 29, 2013

The Honorable Terie Norelli State House 107 North Main Street Concord, NH 03301

Dear Speaker Norelli,

On behalf of the New Hampshire Republican State Committee, I am writing to formally request that you seek to end New Hampshire’s payment of dues to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). Under your leadership as President, the NCSL is actively supporting a disastrous Internet sales tax bill that will hurt New Hampshire small business owners. It is outrageous that Granite State taxpayers are being forced to fund an organization that is campaigning for legislation that will damage the New Hampshire Advantage.

According to the Legislative Accounting Office, New Hampshire taxpayers spent $126,879 in fiscal year 2013 on dues owed to the NCSL. The NCSL is using this money to fund a campaign to urge Members of Congress to support the job-killing Internet sales tax bill.

This legislation would burden New Hampshire small business owners with onerous new regulations and allow states with a sales tax to expand government by taking more money out of the pockets of working families. As Speaker of the House and NCSL President you must stand up for New Hampshire by demanding repayment of the dues paid to the NCSL and remove funding for the payments of these dues from the upcoming state budget.

While Senator Kelly Ayotte and other elected officials have spoken out against the Internet sales tax bill, you have said nothing. You have sat on your hands as President Obama, the leader of your party, and the NCSL, an organization that you oversee, have championed this devastating legislation. Your shameful silence raises serious questions about whether you would rather stand with New Hampshire, or quietly serve the interests of the states with a sales tax that you represent as NCSL President.

New Hampshire can no longer afford to fund an organization like the NCSL that is trying to damage our small business community. I look forward to your prompt response to this pressing matter.

At our Jefferson Jackson Celebration last October, I was so excited by the energy and enthusiasm of everyone in the room that evening. And then just two weeks later on Election Day, New Hampshire made history!

Thanks to the hard work of everyone in the room that night, and so many others across New Hampshire, House Democrats made record gains and picked-up more than 100 seats. We have restored our majority and returned commonsense leadership to the State House in Concord.

I am so excited to be part of a historic team of women leaders with Governor Maggie Hassan, Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Congresswomen Carol Shea-Porter and Annie Kuster, and Senate Democratic Leader Sylvia Larsen. Together, we are working every day to move our state and country forward!

Joining us at this year's McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club Dinner is our outstanding DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz whose tireless work last years helped lead to so many of our amazing victories here in New Hampshire. I look forward to joining her - and you - on April 6 at this year's 100 Club Dinner!

On behalf of the New Hampshire Republican State Committee, I am writing to formally request that you immediately denounce the hateful and divisive comments made by a member of your caucus and reprimand him for his continued pattern of inappropriate behavior.

The New Hampshire Union Leader (2/1/2013) reports that Representative Timothy Horrigan (D-Durham) made outrageously offensive remarks on his Twitter account that “expressed hope that former Vice President Dick Cheney would shoot conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.” Representative Horrigan’s comments mirror a similarly offensive statement that resulted in his resignation in 2010 about former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin being “even more dangerous” dead than alive.

Representative Horrigan’s disgusting comments have no place in our political discourse and his pattern of shocking behavior disgraces the House Democratic Caucus. There is simply no excuse for an elected official to repeatedly and publicly fantasize about the displeasure, and even death, of others.

As the leader of the Democratic Caucus and Speaker, it is your responsibility to publicly condemn these hateful statements and discipline Rep. Horrigan in order to uphold the integrity of the House of Representatives. A failure to denounce his comments will serve as a sign that the Democratic House Leadership is willing to tolerate this type of reprehensible behavior.